Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1887-05-21
Among the Photographers.

the UO0f Ol1cHeU. IL w oH3 'aie.SeNA3'S
small village, for 500 operators were
tapping away at racing speed, while
1870 clerks and messengers swiftly
Fitted to and fro.
s.This is our day force, said Mr..
Brennan, the assistant manager
"Ninety others take their places at
night. The tifty You see up there
in the gallery attended 70 the com
ncrcial news, ticker service, stock
reports, etc. They use the Morse
Instruments.
..What proportion of the force is
composed OF ladiesF'
"About one fourth"
care they as efficient as mcns"
"Not quite. Still they are very
eypert. We have three married
ladies. Most of the Wheatstone
operators are women.
"Hase you any colored opera
torsg"
Not one. And so far as my
knowledge extends there Is not Il
colorcd operator in the United
States. At any rate, never heard
of one.D
..Whn are the veterans of the
service7"
.Wen. there are two that have
been at work for the company fora
on,rtcr of ~ century. You see, we
lave but very few gray or bald
heads. The operators begin work
when they are about 15 or 10 years
old.
serieSsn
SIN the country. Nearly the en-
tire force took their first lessons III
the Offices along the Erie, Prnnsyl
vania and Hudson River railroads,
and IN the eastern states. Their
ambition brings them here. They
Get from $50 to $50 per month, ac-
cording to length of service, ct
fciency aud experience.
"What are those curious lnStru
mcnts on which they arc pounding
with what look like pcgs?'
Those are the WheatStone an
tomato machines. 1t works st.
Louis, Chicago aud New Orleans
and averages each circuit 2.3oo 10
5000 messages per day. The pc
cularity of the Wheatstone instru
melt is that the message is FIRST
punched for transmission. and then
these punched slips are passed
through a transmitting machine,
winch records each dot, dash ana
space in The corresponding ma
cline at tie other terminus. Each
stroke of the pegs represents % dot,
dash or space. The messages re
ceivcd are printed on chemically
prepared paper and are translated
aud printed Ivy type writer's. me
Wheatstone machine has been III
use about four years. The opera
tors average about the same as the
Morse operators"
"What teams turn out the most
messages"
The operators on the broker
wires. Tie Chicago board of trade
and the New York produce ex-
change handle GOO messages. while
crlv 800 are handled on the main
vines between the same cities. A
broker firm cuts its message as
short as possible and signs he name
of Brown, Bates 4 Brown, B. B. &
j.. while the full name is given in
general messages. The cable mes
.aoes are like those Of hrokerS,and.
more can he handled than of oldl
nary messages because OF thell
shortneSS."
..How fast do the cables work?"
"Jhcy go just about as fast AS an
average wire. We scHd message
and Get an answer from London in
seven minutes. 1hecablcs to Eng
lard and the land line TO San
Francisco are Just about the same
length, 3 $40 miles.
You make both ends meet here,
don't you?"
..Oh, yes. The operator on the
li"ht works with Hearts Content,
] 100 miles east, and the operator
llext to him talks with Omaha, l.
500 miles west. We have circuit
with Jacksonville Of 100 miles,
and one with Galveston of 1,5OO
miles,
Are any of the operators affected
by the work." q
Eyes, some of them get he tie
legraphcr'S cramp from holding the
I en- III one position fora length OF
time. A large number thus affect
ell in their right hands have learn.
I'd to use their lett instead.
..Do they ever get over it,"
Not thoroughly. The doctors
have just begun investigating it,
Operators can prevent lLby proper
exercise. New York Sun.